Tension between police and citizens initially began after squatters were threatened with eviction from the Rote Flora theater, a community centre which has served as a meeting point for left-wing activists for almost 25 years. A December 21 protest to save the building's tenants from eviction was attended by an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people. The event later turned into a riot where hundreds of police officers and protesters were injured.

The danger zone and subsequent protests have birthed a number of memes, including the toilet brush, or "klobürste" in German. The meme spread through the popularity of a video that appeared to show police officers removing a toilet brush from underneath the shirt of a protester on Tuesday.

Netizens have also turned the danger zone itself into a meme, posting images depicting it as number of frightening things, including Batman supervillain The Joker, as well as the dark land of Mordor from The Lord of the Rings.